When Manchester City (3rd) hosts Liverpool (6th), it always makes for a match with twists and turns. And this meeting on the 11th day of the Premier League was no exception to the rule. For his 1000th match as coach, Pep Guardiola lined up a very offensive line-up, like the last starting XI of the Cityzens, with Cherki, Foden, Bernardo Silva and Doku behind Haaland. On the Liverpool side, Arne Slot led the same team that won against Real Madrid (1-0) in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Ekitiké preferred to Isak.
Man City
3
29′
E. Haaland
45’+3
Nico González
63′
J.Doku
Liverpool
0
90+4′
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The first spark of this meeting came from Cityzens. After a disagreement between Bradley and Konaté, Doku stole the ball from the right side of the Reds. Wanting to get ahead of Marmardashvili, the Belgian was slightly cut down by the latter. After consulting the VAR, Chris Kavanagh pointed to the penalty spot. Haaland logically presented himself against the Georgian goalkeeper. But it was ultimately the former Valencia goalkeeper who had the last word, deploying himself perfectly on his left side to deflect the Norwegian’s attempt (13th). A failure which, however, did not destabilize City. Untenable on his side, Doku again played with Bradley before releasing a powerful close-angle shot – released by Mamardashvili (27th). Two minutes later, the Liverpool goalkeeper was finally beaten. After a cross from Nunes, Haaland dominated Konaté in the air and placed his head to explode the Etihad Stadium (29th, 1-0). The Norwegian goal machine then scored his 99th goal in 108 PL matches. Overwhelmed in the game, Liverpool clearly couldn’t do it. However, the Reds thought they had equalized following a nice header from Van Dijk from a corner (39th)… before the goal was canceled for an offside by Robertson, which hampered Donnarumma. The Dutch defender also had a complicated end to the first period, as he deflected Nico Gonzalez’s long shot, thus allowing City to make the break (45th+3, 2-0).
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In the second half, Liverpool tried to show a semblance of revolt, especially with the entries of Kerkez and Gakpo. The Dutch striker also missed a huge opportunity to reduce the score, by mistaking a good ball from Bradley at the far post (58th). But Manchester City were simply too strong. Found by O’Reilly inside, Jeremy Doku thrust back into the axis with a powerful thrust, before curling his shot perfectly to seal the victory for the Skyblues (63rd, 3-0). Liverpool tried to save honor, first with a heavy strike from Szoboszlai, stopped by Donnarumma (76th). Then on a stolen ball from Salah (80th). In vain. Something to delight the Mancunian fans, who sang the song “ Sack in the morning! You’re getting sacked in the morning » (“ Get out in the morning! You will be fired in the morning “) to Arne Slot.
The celebration was therefore total for City, who won for the first time against Liverpool since April 2023. Second in the PL ranking, the Cityzens carried out the good operation of this day, coming back to four points behind Arsenal, held to a draw by Sunderland on Saturday. Pep Guardiola signed his 395th victory in 550 matches since his arrival in 2016. On the other hand, the headaches have not disappeared at Liverpool, who suffered a 4th defeat in the away league. Eighth and eight points behind GunnersArne Slot’s formation seems to have already said goodbye to its crown.
